holding pattern

American  

noun

1. a traffic pattern for aircraft at a specified location holding point where they are ordered to remain until permitted to land or proceed.

2. a state or period in which no progress or change is made or planned.

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holding pattern British  

noun

1. the oval or circular path of an aircraft flying around an airport awaiting permission to land

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Etymology

Origin of holding pattern

First recorded in 1950–55

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

holding pattern

The S&P 500 has been in holding pattern for two months now, its progress stalled by bond-market carnage and its technicals undermined by the narrow breadth of stocks keeping up the index.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and his seemingly supernatural competence at both city management and marketing, has laid a blueprint for kitchen-table progressives looking to bust out of the Trump-era holding pattern.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

After the chaos of Ben Stokes' retirement and the sacking of Brendon McCullum, England are in a strange holding pattern.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

In advance of Nvidia’s earnings, investors didn’t have much else to parse, turning a breakneck rally into more of a holding pattern, said Gina Martin Adams, chief market strategist at HB Wealth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

But the room, although dim, isn’t dark enough, so I switch my mind into the holding pattern that passes for attention.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

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